Google has released Android 11 Developer Preview 3, after the first release in February and DP2 in March. This brings App exit reasons updates, GWP-ASan heap analysis, ADB Incremental, Wireless Debugging, Data access auditing updates and more features for developers.
New features in Android 11 Developer Preview 3
- App exit reasons updates – Android 11 makes is easier to find why an app has exited and what the state was at the time with an exit reasons API that you can use to request details of the app’s recent exits.
- GWP-ASan heap analysis – GWP-ASan sampling allocation tool detects heap memory errors with minimal overhead or impact on performance to help developers find and fix memory safety issues. GWP-ASan is enabled by default in platform binaries and system apps, and it can be enabled for apps as well.
- ADB Incremental – With ADB Incremental in Android 11, installing large APKs (2GB+) from development computer to an Android 11 device is up to 10x faster. Currently works only with Pixel 4 / 4XL devices due to a required file system change at the device level. All new devices launching with Android 11 will include this change and will support ADB Incremental.
- Wireless Debugging – Android 11 supports deploying and debugging apps wirelessly from workstation via Android Debug Bridge (adb). For example, developers can deploy debuggable app to multiple remote devices without physically connecting the device via USB and contending with common USB connection issues, such as driver installation.
- Data access auditing updates -New data access auditing APIs in Android 11 Developer Preview 3. Several of the APIs have been renamed.
Google also said that it is on the way to finalizing features and APIs and shifting its focus to polish and performance.
The Android 11 Developer Preview is available for Pixel 2 / 2 XL, Pixel 3 / 3 XL, Pixel 3a / 3a XL, or Pixel 4 / 4 XL on the Android developer website here. Beta 1 for both Pixel and select non-Pixel devices is expected be available in May, Beta 2 in June (with final APIs and official SDK) and the final stable release by the end of Q3 2020.